Difference between revisions of "Stillingia sylvatica"

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===Pollination===  
 
===Pollination===  
 
===Use by animals=== <!--Herbivory, granivory, insect hosting, etc.-->
 
===Use by animals=== <!--Herbivory, granivory, insect hosting, etc.-->
Because ''S. sylvatica'' seeds contain elaiosomes, they are collected by ants (Stamp and Lucas 1990). “Seeds were found in middens of harvester-ant nests of ''Pogonomyremex badius'' Latreille. In addition, seeds of all three plant species were observed being carried into the ant nests and then later deposited uneaten at the nest perimeter.” – Stamp and Lucas 1990.
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The seeds of ''S. sylvatica'' contain elaiosomes and have been found in middens of Florida harvester ants, ''Pogonomyrmex badius'' (Stamp and Lucas 1990).
  
 
===Diseases and parasites===
 
===Diseases and parasites===

Revision as of 10:22, 12 October 2015

Stillingia sylvatica
Stillingia sylvatica MMS.jpg
Photo taken by Michelle M. Smith
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Division: Magnoliophyta – Flowering plants
Class: Magnoliopsida – Dicotyledons
Order: Euphorbiales
Family: Euphorbiaceae
Genus: Stillingia
Species: S. sylvatica
Binomial name
Stillingia sylvatica
L.
STIL SYLV dist.jpg
Natural range of Stillingia sylvatica from USDA NRCS Plants Database.

Common name: queen's-delight

Taxonomic notes

Description

Distribution

Ecology

Habitat

In the Coastal Plain in Florida and Georgia, S. sylvatica can be found in sandhills (FSU Herbarium; Stamp and Lucas 1990), pine flatwoods, open pine-oak woodlands, recently burned pine-oak scrubs, longleaf pine-wiregrass stands, longleaf pine-turkey oak-wiregrass, and annually burned pinelands (FSU Herbarium). Substrate types include loamy sand, sand (FSU Herbarium), and siliceous, hypothermic Ultic haplaquod of the Pomona series (Moore et al. 1982).

Associated species include Stillingia aquatica, Phlox floridana, Asimina longifolia var. spathulata, Lactuca graminifolia, Pterocaulon undulatum, Asclepias humistrata and Quercus hemisphaerica (FSU Herbarium).

Phenology

It has been observed flowering April through July (FSU Herbarium).

Seed dispersal

It is dispersed explosively (up to 3 meters); seeds are forcefully expelled after the fruit matures and dries. It can also be dispersed by ants (Stamp and Lucas 1990).

Seed bank and germination

Fire ecology

It seems to respond positively to burning. In an experiment by Greenberg, he noted that the percent cover of S. sylvatica was highest 16 months after a May burn (2003).

Pollination

Use by animals

The seeds of S. sylvatica contain elaiosomes and have been found in middens of Florida harvester ants, Pogonomyrmex badius (Stamp and Lucas 1990).

Diseases and parasites

Conservation and Management

Cultivation and restoration

Photo Gallery

References and notes

  • Greenberg, C. H. 2003. Vegetation recovery and stand structure following a prescribed stand-replacement burn in sand pine scrub. Natural Areas Journal 23:141-151.
  • Moore, W. H., B. F. Swindel and W. S. Terry. 1982. Vegetative response to prescribed fire in a north Florida flatwoods forest. Journal of Range Management 35:386-389.
  • Stamp, N. E. and J. R. Lucas. 1990. Spatial patterns and dispersal distances of explosively dispersing plants in Florida sandhill vegetation. Journal of Ecology 78:589-600.